


Soulbound and Shackled

by HailedAcorn



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2019-07-14 09:47:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16037957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HailedAcorn/pseuds/HailedAcorn
Summary: One hot summer day, Diana finds a a mysterious flyer and is hit with a barrage of illnesses. Akko, who was nowhere near at the time, is suffering a similar fate.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this story was borrowed from a One Punch Man fanfiction I read a while back. However, I can't seem to find the original source. If anyone recognizes this, it would be nice if I could credit the original author! Thanks you!

Diana Cavendish was not a fan of the heat. As rare as warm days are in this country, one might think she would appreciate them more.  Most people could wear tank tops and those ridiculously short and comfortable shorts, but Diana could never let herself be seen in such things. Nor could she dramatically whimper and wither under the oppressive heat.

                She was on her way to pick up her broom from the Last Wednesday Café, since she broke it during a tutoring session three days ago. Akko had offered to get for her, (probably because it was mostly her fault it was broken) but Akko had been doing nearly everything for her recently, and Diana was starting to feel a bit spoiled.

So, here she was.

Diana stifled a groan as she opened the door to the Café and was hit by an unexpected wave of hot, dank air. The shop looked so dark and cool from the outside she didn’t think to brace herself.

The sole proprietor was sitting in his usual place behind the counter, with a small office fan pointed towards him. He glanced up from his magazine.

                “Evening, Miss Diana. It’s warm in here, huh?” he chuckled. The poor shopkeeper was drenched in sweat, so much so it looked as if he had been pouring water over his head all day. He mumbled, “I’ll get your broom, huh?” and disappeared down the hall before Diana could say anything.

She pushed open the door to the shop, basking in the outdoor air which now felt refreshing in comparison. The streets were surprisingly empty for such a beautiful day. Perhaps she wasn’t alone in her distaste for warm weather.

“Here y’are, Miss,” the shopkeeper set the broom on the counter. It was just a standard-issue broom from Luna Nova, but it was _hers_ , and hers specifically. They had been from Arcturus to the edge of space and back, and it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that there might be some sort of magical attachment between her and the broom.

                Diana thanked the shopkeeper and left. As she walked, she became increasingly uneasy at the lack of people in town. “ _Perhaps there’s a festival of some sort I didn’t hear about?”_ Diana thought. She scanned her surroundings. There was nothing unusual. The old stone streets and buildings looked just as they ever had, if only a bit vacant. On the other side of the street, a flyer posted to a streetlamp caught her eye.

                She moved closer to it. It was a simple white sheet of printing paper with a red border. In a large, plain font, it read:

 FIND YOUR SOULMATE!

Underneath, in smaller text, it read:

Everyone deserves love! Call the number below!

                The bottom of the flyer was cut into strips, so that one could tear them off and take the number with them. Except… there was no number on the strips. Diana pulled one off and turned it over.

                “ _Blank. How interesting…”_ Diana thought. “ _And, I appear to be the first person to take one. Normally whomever puts these up will take one off themselves, in order to “get the ball rolling”, as they say… maybe it’s a joke?”_

At that moment, Diana’s head exploded. Pain rung through her skull as if she was hit like a gong; she groaned and wrapped her arm around the lamppost for support. Then her hands erupted in flames, like she had just pressed them against a belt sander. She cried out and dropped to her knees.

                She knelt there for a moment breathing heavily. The ringing gradually turned into a throbbing headache so awful it felt like the veins in her forehead were going to burst open at any minute. With a grunt, she pulled herself up, then staggered to the nearest door and pushed it open. She was met with such relief; an air-conditioned store. She slid into the nearest booth and put her head down.

She still felt hot, and her uniform was suffocating and damp with sweat. “ _Well, it’s not like anyone’s here to see…_ ” thought Diana. She pulled her vest off over her head and unbuttoned the top buttons of her blouse. She fanned herself with her shirt, letting that blessed, blessed AC air get beneath her clothes.

“Miss Diana?”

Diana’s snapped upright. She hadn’t even noticed there was someone at counter! It was a young man, about her age. He wore a striped apron and a hat that read “ **Brewster’s Old-Fashioned Ice Cream and Gelato** ”.

“ _Ice Cream… God, I hate being famous._ ” Diana thought. What she needed right now was water. She looked at the menu and skimmed through the beverages for water.

“Could I have a carbonated water?” she asked.

“S-seltzer water? Yeah- I mean, coming right up!” he said, voice cracking. He filled a plastic cup with bubbly water and brought it to her. She wrapped her hands around the cup, letting the cool perspiration from it soothe her burning palms.

“It’s quiet out today,” said Diana, mostly to herself, “it’s almost kind of eerie…”

“Uhh, yeah…” the boy replied softly.

“ _What’s with this guy?_ ” she thought. “ _He must be intimidated by me. I suppose I should be used to that by now. God, I don’t care what he thinks!”_

Diana’s capacity to be tactful and sophisticated had reached its limit. She laid her head down on the table and pressed the cup of water against her whole face. _Ahhh…_

A pleasant buzzing spread throughout her body. She began to relax, and the pain in her head and hands disappeared. It felt almost like healing magic…

Maybe she fallen asleep. Whatever the case, she couldn’t spend all day here. She paid for the soda and turned to leave.

_Snap_

She turned around and saw the boy’s phone camera flash. He looked at her like a deer in frozen in headlights.

“What are you _doing_!?” she screeched.

“No! I-I mean, sorry! I, like, I just, wanted a picture to prove you were here! My friends would never believe that I- that you-!“

“Just ask, you creep!”

 

*

 

“Di-aa-naa!”

Diana had yet to dismount her broom when she heard her name called by a very familiar voice. Akko was her usual bouncy self, but it seems she attained some injuries in the short time she was gone. her forehead and hands were all wrapped up in bandages.

                “Diana, what happened? You’re all messed up!” Akko noted, “and where’s your vest?”

Shocked, Diana looked down at herself. She had forgotten her vest at the ice cream place! That’ll be a hard one to explain.

                “I should be asking you that,” said Diana, deflecting the question masterfully, “what on Earth did you do to yourself?”

Akko scratched her head. “I had a broom accident… racing with Amanda.”

“Racing?!” asked Diana, “You can hardly fly! Why would you try racing?”

“Well, I can fly in straight lines! And I’m super fast! I thought, maybe I could beat her! But I lost control of my broom and smashed into a tree, and scraped up my hands real bad.” She held out her hands. “It’s a good thing Amanda knows healing magic! Going to the infirmary twice in one week would’ve been embarrassing.”

Healing magic… cogs in Diana’s head began to spin, but her thoughts were immediately interrupted by an arm wrapped around her neck.

“Nice job dodging the question, girl. So, what’s the story with your vest?” said Amanda, looking at her with her usual cocky and confident grin.

“Eh? It’s a long story really…” she struggled to free herself from Amanda’s headlock

“A long story indeed! I can only imagine a few reasons you’d need to take your shirt off while ‘running errands…’”

 she pressed her forehead against Diana’s. “So, what’s his name?”

“Ehh!?? That’s not it at all!” sputtered Diana.

“Oh? So it ain’t a boy, then?”

“Of course not!”

“I see. Then what _her_ name?”

Diana began to choke.

Amanda laughed. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! I’m just messing with ya! I really don’t care. Also, that healing magic I gave to Akko wont last, so you might want to tend to that. Okay, gotta go. I promised Albreksburger I’d be back twenty minutes ago.”

And she was gone.

“So…” Akko said, pulling Diana out of her thoughts, “what’s the real story behind your vest?”

“I got heat stroke and nearly died. I left it in some ice cream restaurant.”

“That’s not a very long story!”

“Well, there’s more to it than that,” Diana replied, “but it’s getting late. I’ll tell you later, if you remind me.”

As they headed back to their dorms, Akko went on about some new spell she learned. Diana interjected with a nod or a “Hm” every now and then to show she was listening, even though she was really only half listening.

                “ _She’s grown so much as a witch in the past year,”_ she thought to herself, “ _and a student, as well. Maybe I’ve rubbed off on her. Is it conceited to think that’s she’s lucky to have me as a friend? I’m sure she’s influenced me in many ways as well.”_

She looked at the bandages on Akko’s head.

“ _She’s still reckless as ever, though.”_ Her eyes drifted down to the bandages on Akko’s hands. She recalled the incident from a few hours ago. The headache… that was heatstroke, no doubt about it. Right? But the burning sensation on her hands… Akko said she scraped her hands. Diana’s mind began to pull things together.

 _“Healing magic…”_ Diana thought. All this was starting to give her another headache. That reminded her…

“Akko, hold still a moment. Look at me.” She pointed her wand at Akko’s head. “ _Fiole!”_

Green sparks shot out of Diana’s wand and swirled around Akko’s head. Then, one by one, they disappeared.

“Ooh, that was pretty!” Akko said, “now do my hand!”

Diana looked down at the bandages on Akko’s hands. “You said it was just a scrape? You’ll be fine.”

“Diana!”

“Yes, I am Diana. Goodnight, Akko.” She turned and walked down the hall to her room. Before she shut the door to her room, she looked over her shoulder and saw Akko still at the end of the hall.

“Goodnight, Akko!”

Akko waved. “Goodnight Diana!”

The door to Diana’s room creaked shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first real fanfictions I've ever written! I've never written a story of this length or complexity before, so feedback is appreciated. And most of all, I hope you liked it!


	2. Correlation and Causation

“Diana? Diana? Are you alive?”

Diana was shaken awake. She pried open her eyes and saw Hannah and Barbara standing over her. She gasped and shot upright like a spring trap. Had she slept in? She never used an alarm. Every day for her whole life she had woken up a 6:15 on the dot. What time was it now?

                “Girls! Yes, I’m alright,” said Diana, “what time is it?”

The girls didn’t have an answer for that, and she probably wouldn’t’ve heard them anyways. She slid out of bed, shooed the girls out and threw on her uniform.

                “ _Vest. Where’s my vest? I left it in town yesterday! Oh, don’t I have more than one?”_

She started to dig through her dresser for another vest. Suddenly the world went white and she was hit with a wave of nausea.

                “ _Oh God… I’m going to-”_

She turned and bent over the coffee table so she wouldn’t throw up all over the floor, and started heaving. Oddly, nothing came out. She had skipped dinner last night, hadn’t she? After a few minutes of retching, her body gave up on trying to empty out her already-dry stomach. She leaned back against her bed and tried to catch her breath. She couldn’t miss class. Diana told herself it was just morning sickness, it would go away.  Pull on your vest and march down there.

 

*

 

The short walk down to her first class felt like a mile run. She slid into her seat, muscles sore and joints aching. She swallowed, suppressing the urge to vomit again. Looking over to where Akko and her team sat, she saw that both Akko and Sucy were absent. A bad feeling began to smolder in the pit of her stomach.

She couldn’t pay attention to the lesson, nor could she bear to sit here any longer.

                “Professor Finnelan, uh,” Diana faltered, “May be excused to go to the infirmary?”

“Excuse me, Diana?” she replied. Diana’s voice was too weak to be heard.

“I don’t think Diana is feeling well,” Barbara piped up.

Professor Finnelan squinted at them. “She isn’t looking so well, either. Yes Diana, you may be excused. Do you need someone to go with you?”

Diana shook her head and stumbled down the stairs and out the door. But she wasn’t headed towards the infirmary. She knew Akko was tied into this, so that’s who she was going to see. She glanced into a window and her reflection made her recoil in shock.

Her hair was a mess. She didn’t have time to brush it or anything this morning, so it was matted and snarled, like a blond briar patch. Her eyes were so horribly bloodshot they almost looked demonic, and deep bags hung underneath them. Her skin was oily from having cold sweats all day. She increased her pace.

When she got to Akko’s room, she was greeted at the door by Sucy. Akko was laying in her bed, not looking much better than Diana herself. She was staring blankly at one of her Japanese mangas with red and glazed-over eyes.  Someone had taken the liberty of getting an ice pack from the kitchen and placing it on the witch’s forehead.

                “You’re bleeding,” Sucy pointed out. Diana touched her upper lip, and looked on with wide eyes as her finger came off covered in blood.

                “Akko’s been having the same problem,” she said in her usual monotone voice, “it’s weird. Not even my most potent elixir seems to have any effect on her.”

“You’ve been taking care of Akko? That’s uncharacteristically kind of you, Sucy,” said Diana.

“Not really. I’ve been busy lately, so I haven’t had much time to study. When I woke up to Akko rolling around on the floor with the dry heaves, I knew that would be my pass to passing. Heh.”

“I see. So you think if you take a day off to help Akko, the Professors will postpone your exams? So you could have extra time to study?” Diana inquired.

“Well, that was my plan,” responded Sucy, “I thought I could just mix up a potion to heal her, and we could both have the day off. Nothing I made worked. So, I’m still trying.”

Diana leaned in close to Sucy and murmured in her ear, “I think nothing has worked because she doesn’t have an ordinary flu or virus. I think I might have accidentally cursed us.”

“A curse, huh?” Sucy whispered back, “curses aren’t my forte. Do you have an idea or something?”

Diana didn’t respond. Instead, she sat down at the foot of Akko’s bed.

                “Akko, were going to see Professor Ursula,” Diana said. She lifted the book off Akko’s face.

“I can’t. I can’t walk,” Akko softly croaked.

“Yes you can. If I can walk, so can you,” said Diana. She gripped Akko’s hand and pulled her into a sitting position.

“I can’t. My legs. I’ve got the gout, Diana.”

“What are you talking about? No, you don’t. Come on.”

Diana wrapped Akko’s arm around her shoulder and tried to lift her up. Akko whimpered in pain.

                “Uh, do you two need any help?” asked Sucy.

Diana wrapped her left arm under Akko’s armpit and heaved with all her strength. Akko finally stood up and buried her face in Diana’s hair.

                “I think we’ll be alright.”

 

*

 

“Professor Ursula!” Diana shouted. She pounded on the door. “What’s she doing? I know she doesn’t have any classes right now.”

The door creaked open, and Professors Ursula’s head poked out from behind it.

                “Oh! Hello, Diana.” She noticed the shorter Japanese witch wrapped around her. “And Akko! Hello! Do you girls need something?”

“We’re cursed, and possibly dying,” she replied.

“Oh dear,” said Ursula, “you don’t look like you’re dying. Is it some sort of mind rot?”

“Well, I actually don’t feel that much worse for wear right now. It comes in waves. May we come in?”

Ursula nodded and opened the door the rest of the way. Professor Ursula’s bedroom was more of an observatory-turned-living quarters. A massive circular window shaped inside of a triskelion let sunlight flood into the room during the day.  A balcony encompassed the whole room, and under it there was a couch, and bookshelf, and a writing desk with papers, books, and magical items strewn across it. Various paintings hung above, some with people and some more abstract. Alcor slept on his perch on one end of the room. If there was a bed for Ursula somewhere, Diana had never seen it.

Diana and Akko walked over and sat down on the couch. Diana had taken note that over the course of their trip, Akko had put less and less of her weight on Diana. She looked down at her friend, whose eyes had their usual glimmer back in them.

Professor Ursula pulled up a chair. “Tell me more about this curse.”

Diana told her about yesterday, about the empty town, the poster and the headache that coincidently coincided with Akko’s accident. Ursula’s brow became increasingly furrowed as Diana talked about the sickness this morning, the ineffectiveness of Sucy’s medicine, and how all their symptoms had mysteriously disappeared when they arrived at the Professors room.

                “Based on what you’re telling me... Hmm. It sounds like a Curse of Binding,” said Ursula.

“Curse of Binding?” asked the young witches in unison. Neither of them had ever heard of a curse like that; of course, this says a lot more for Diana than it does for Akko.

“A Curse of Binding. It’s normally given to objects, like weapons or clothing. But theoretically, it could be given to people. It works by binding the magical field around a person to the field of the cursed item. Unless a person remains in full contact with the cursed item, the leyline created between them will strain, draining the victim’s energy until they are killed,” Ursula explained, “if that’s what you two have… well, let’s not jump to conclusions. I have a simple way to test this.”

She leaned over and pulled something out of the bookshelf. It was a largish, round piece of glass with two large handles on either side.

“A dowsing lens,” Diana discerned.

“Dowsing?” Akko asked, “isn’t that when you soak something in water? Or am I confused?”

Professor Ursula smiled at her. “Partly! Dowsing is a type of divination used to detect unseen energies. In the past, normal people would dowse to find the magical energy coming off of things buried underground, like water, buried metals, or minerals,” she went on, “It can also be used to detect energy fields and leylines. Dowsing was a method employed quite commonly by normal people back in the olden days, but since magic has been fading from the world, it’s not quite as effective as it used to be and has fallen out of practice. By professional, anyways. People still dowse, of course, but it’s about as useful as coin flipping, or random chance.”

She took a breath.

“This dowsing lens is fairly advanced. It allows the user to see magical energy, simply by looking through it!”

She held it up to her face. The first thing she saw was Alcor. The old bird had a faint glow around him, which flickered ever so slightly. Then she held her own hand up. The air around it rippled with energy. Despite her encounter with Wagandrea pollen, her magical aura was still fairly strong.

Now for the _real_ test. She turned and looked at the girls. Akko’s aura looked almost like boiling water. Small ripples popped in and out, like the surface of the water during a rainstorm. On the other hand, Diana’s aura was beautiful. It looked as if pure golden light was emanating from her body, like the Sun’s corona.

“Alright girls. I need you to step away from each other.”

Akko, who was still leaning on Diana and giggling at Ursula’s big, upside down face was the first to comply. She stood up, and as soon as she let go of Diana a wave of nausea hit them both.

Ursula’s perspective was a lot more interesting. As soon as the two auras disconnected, a wave of electricity spread out through the air. A small beam of light manifested between them: a leyline.

Akko groaned and fell back onto Diana’s shoulder.

Ursula sighed. “Oh, dear. It really is a binding curse,” she said, “between people! How interesting! And troubling.”

“So we really are cursed? What do we do? There’s a cure, right!?” Akko nearly yelled.

Ursula ran her fingers through her hair. “Erm… well, I wouldn’t say ‘cure’… eheheh…” she chuckled nervously.

“’Broken’ is the correct term, I believe,” interjected Diana, “A curse can be broken in many ways. Sometimes, whomever casted the curse will put their own cure in the curse, creating the curse to be broken when a magic word is said, or a certain task is completed. A skilled witch can break the curse themselves, provided they are more skilled than the caster. And of course, whomever casted the curse can always remove it themselves.”

“Very good, Diana!” said Professor Ursula.

“ _Professor, don’t tell me you didn’t know that,_ ” said Diana in her mind.

“A simple yes or no would’ve done,’ said Akko, rolling her eyes at Diana’s pompous scholarly attitude.

“We’ll have to see.” said Ursula. “But In the meantime, I’ll inform the rest of the school’s staff about your, uhm, condition. And you two should head down to the nurse. Maybe she can help you with your ‘symptoms’.”

“Thank you, Professor. Excuse us,” said Diana. She gripped Akko’s arm and guided her to the door. She looked over her shoulder one last time to see Professor Ursula waving her hand around the globe on her desk. Then the heavy wooden door slammed shut in front her.

 And thus began their first day together out of an eternity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The exposition is done.


	3. The First Day

Akko Kagari was in love with Diana. She wasn’t sure when it happened. Maybe it that weekend when she chased her down to her mansion in Wedinburgh for no good reason. Or maybe it was that night when she gave Akko her Premium Shiny Chariot Card. Love doesn’t happen instantaneously. Maybe the realization does, but love itself doesn’t. That was Akko’s philosophy, anyways.

It was when Diana’s praise made her head buzz, and when her touch left an impression that lingered for hours when Akko thought, “ _I LOVE this woman!”._ The epiphany was a bit distressing. What if Diana didn’t reciprocate those feelings? It wasn’t a very big If, she knew Diana wasn’t “Like that”. Even if she was, she knew Diana, the Cavendish, the Heiress, wasn’t destined for an insignificant foreign girl like her. It only hurt a little bit, but it was a small pain she would rather do without.

So she never told. Akko was quite good at hiding how she felt, despite rarely doing such a thing. No one suspected the girl who always wore her heart on her sleeve might have something bottled up. However, this situation might push her limits.  Though her and Diana _had_ grown closer, they weren’t _that_ close. It wasn’t uncommon for them to go days without speaking. But now, they were together. Bound together. Always. For the indefinite future. The very thought of such a thing would be enough to make Akko break out in a cold sweat, but now it was a reality.

Akko wondered what Diana was feeling right now. She looked up at the blonde witch who would be tethered to her side for maybe possibly eternity. Diana was hard to read. Her calm, professional expression showed no emotion whatsoever, always concentrating at the task at hand.

“ _And right now, our task is to get to the nurse,”_ Akko thought to herself. She shook off the heavy and worrying thoughts, replacing them with more lightweight worrying thoughts. Such as, what people would think when they saw them always holding hands. They had tried walking shoulder to shoulder, but the magic didn’t reach through two layers of clothing. They tried walking with one’s arm wrapped around the other’s shoulder, but it felt quite uncomfortable due to their difference in height.

They also tried walking with one’s arm around another’s waist, but quickly realized that didn’t give off any different vibes that simply holding hands, if anything, they were stronger. So, they settled for simply holding hands. Luckily most students were still in class, so no one saw their predicament just yet. Could you have come up with something better?

The infirmary was more like a dungeon than a medical center. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of stone, and the “cots”, which were actually stone altars, looked more like a place to be sacrificed to demons than to rest. At the end of each altar a candle with a white flame flickered. Akko had seen them in action before. They were magical candles from Egypt that changed color to monitor a patient’s state of health. The nurses had also hung white sheets on the walls in an effort to make the room look a bit less ominous.

The nurses, by the way! The head nurse insisted that everyone call her by her first name, Florence. Her friendly smile and sunny disposition did more to brighten up the dark infirmary than any decorations did. However, she didn’t appear to be present at the moment.

 Instead, her two young helpers, Amica and… Sabrina? They were filling in her for instead. Akko could never remember the tall one’s name. In fact, she wasn’t sure who exactly those two were at all. She had never seen them outside the infirmary. Were they even Luna Nova students at all?

 “Welcome back, Akko,” said Amica.

“Is that Diana?’ asked What’s-Her-Name, “you never see _her_ down here.”

“Yeah,” said Amica again, “and why are they holding hands? That’s PDA. Let’s get them in trouble.”

“Don’t talk ridiculous, girls,” said Diana, “Akko and I aren’t dating. We’re cursed.”

“I wasn’t being serious,” said Amica. “Yeah, your curse. Professor Ursula called and told us about it a little bit ago. I think we may have a solution.”

“A solution to the curse?” asked Akko

“Yeah. No. A solution to the effects of the mental aspect of your bond.”

“Mental aspect?”

“Yes. You seem confused,” said What’s-Her-Name. “Here, allow me to demonstrate. Follow my finger with your eyes.”

She flicked Akko’s nose.

“Ow!”, cried Akko and Diana in unison.

The young nurses giggled.

“What was that for?” asked Akko. She sneezed.

“Let me put this in a way you’ll understand,” said Amica. “Based on why Professor Ursula told us, the curse is binding your minds as well as your magic.  Any stimulus from the environment that might trigger a physiological reaction from you, as in your affrent nerve fibers, is shared among the two of you.”

“I don’t understand that at all! You purposely put that so I couldn’t understand it!” Akko whined.

Diana, however, seemed to be thinking. “What are you getting at here? That there may be a non-magical treatment for our curse?”

“Yes! Since the thalamus is the brain’s center for sensory input, all it’ll take is a simple lobotomy! I can metaphorically burn out that part of the brain, so it won’t create any psychosomatic sensations.”

“Wait! Hold on!” said Akko, “I have no idea what I just heard, but I’m pretty sure the word ‘lobotomy’ was in there. I’m not getting a lobotomy!”

“Ugh, come on, Akko!” said What’s-Her-Name, “It’s not _just_ a simple lobotomy! We’ll grow your thalamus back afterwards, good as new. A simple reset. You’ve had your that thing for what, twelve years? You’re probably due for a new one anyways.”

Diana stepped in between the two. “Now hold on! Akko doesn’t need a lobotomy. I’ll do it. I can take it!”

“Sorry, Miss Diana,” said Amica, “but that would be too big of a liability.”

“Yes,” said What’s-Her-Name, “you have the brilliant mind of a Cavendish. We couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.”

“I think you’re picking on Akko.”

Akko stepped between Amica and Diana. “No, it’s okay Diana. I will do it.”

“Great! Let me get my things…” said What’s-Her-Name. As soon as she turned her back, Akko screamed, “RUN! Diana, RUN!”

She bolted towards the stairs, pulling Diana off her feet and dragging her behind. Diana struggled to stand up again while being hauled up the stairs by the brown-haired flash of lightning, but all she could do was hope this didn’t leave too many bruises.

“Ooh, my whole body hurts,” Akko moaned. After she finally decided they were far enough from the infirmary to stop running, she slowed to a limp and pulled Diana into one of the narrow hallways leading to the dorms.

“My apologies. That’s my pain, from being dragged around the school like a bag of rubbish. Courtesy of yourself, by the way.”

Akko looked at her. “Was that sarcastic?”

“Yes. I can be sarcastic. Am I not allowed make jokes?”

“No, it’s just, you hardly ever make jokes, so I couldn’t- Wait, was that sarcastic, too?”

“No. I’m a human machine who is _incapable_ of having fun in _any way_.  And before you ask, YES, that was sarcasm. Have you got any other profound inquiries?”

Akko was shocked at Diana’s sudden outburst. “I uh, I- I didn’t…” she trailed off, unsure of what to say. Probably expecting an argument, Diana faltered.

“Wait,” said Diana, “No, I’m sorry.”

 She slid down to the floor. “I didn’t mean that. It’s just, today has been a lot more… uh, it’s been really stressful for me.”

Akko sat down next to her. “Well, jeez, it hasn’t been that easy for me, either…”

“I know, I know. It’s just… how is this going to work? How we go to class? How will we sleep? How will we bathe? What’s everyone going to think when they see us holding hands? Amica and Celine-”

So _that’s_ her name.

“- I know they were joking, but we really do look like a unit! We can’t possibly explain this to _everyone._ And you know how rumors spread!”

She sighed.

“Again, I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ve been worried about these things, too. It wasn’t fair for me to lash out at you.”

“Diana…”, said Akko. She looked at Diana, whose face had lost its hardened demeanor, letting her distress show to be easily readable by anyone. It was very rare moments like these that reminded her that Diana wasn’t a goddess in a goddess’s body. It was also comforting in way, to know that she wasn’t the only one freaking out about this whole thing. They were in this together.

Well, duh.  It was also rare moments like these where Akko had to be the voice of comfort. Time to whip out some Astuko “Akko” Kagari words of wisdom.

“Diana, it’s going to be okay.” She said. That was a good start. “Sometimes you’re just too smart for your own good. We’ll take care of all those things. Together. But for now, let’s not worry. We can, uh, cross that river when we come to it.”

Diana smiled faintly. Good, apparently that made more sense out loud than it did in her head. Time for phase two.

“The first thing we need to take care of is you, who is in desperate need of a hug!”

She wrapped her arms around Diana, burying her face under her chin. Then she squeezed with all her might.

“Ow ow ow! Akko, stop!” Diana laughed.

Akko loosed up her grip on Diana. “Ah, that does hurt. I always thought you were just a wimp.”

 She pulled back, letting herself hang from around Diana’s shoulders. A moment of silence passed between them as they locked eyes. Akko felt a wave of romantic tension wash over her, flushing her face a rich red and making her whole body feel quite tender.

“Akko, what’s wrong?” asked Diana, who was perceptive enough to notice Akko suddenly shrink down, but not enough to read the atmosphere of the situation.

“Ehh?!”

Akko sputtered, snapping out of her brief trance. She looked frantically around the room, as if she was quite literally looking for an excuse or explanation of some sort.

“Oh, I uh, I just realized I’m still in my pajamas!”

And she was. With how hectic the day had been so forth, Akko had never had an opportunity to change of the dirty T-shirt and red shorts that she sleeps in.

“Ah!” said Diana, “Frankly, I didn’t even notice! What with everything going on today. Shall we head back to your room then?”

Akko nodded. Just then, the floor started to tremor. The sound of doors opening and girls chattering wafted down the hall.

“Or maybe we could sit here a bit longer,” Akko suggested.

 

*

 

Sucy was sitting on her bed, reading a textbook. A few pages of brief, lazily written notes were strewn around her. With a frown plastered on her face and brow furrowed, she almost distressed. That is to say, if you didn’t happen to know that particular witch very well. She looked up from her book.

“You two look better. Did you Professor Ursula manage to break the curse, or whatever it was?”

Diana took the liberty to reply.

“It was a curse of binding. We believe a flyer I came across yesterday may have bound Akko and I together both mentally and-”

“Shut up.” Sucy cut her off. “Akko, did Professor Ursula manage to break the curse?”

“Not exactly…”

“I see. That’s all I needed to hear. You can leave now,” said Sucy, returning her attention to her studies and waving them off.

 “Hold on! I came here for a reason! You can be such a jerk, Sucy!” Akko huffed indignantly.

She didn’t respond, causing all conversation to stagnate while Akko sifted through her bedding, looking for her uniform. She dug out her vest, skirt, tie, blouse, and she could get clean stockings. That was the easy part.

“I need to change. I need privacy! Excuse me, both of you,” she said.

“Now _I’m_ getting kicked out,” Sucy muttered, “Since when did you care about privacy?”

A fair point, on her part. Akko wasn’t shy or self-conscious in any way whatsoever. This was, of course, not relative to Diana, around whom Akko had to feign confidence if she wanted to be able to function properly.

“Since now,” she said. She pushed both Sucy and Diana into the hall, and then shut the door on her arm, causing her to yelp in pain (and so did a voice on the other side of the door). She took a lungful of air. Sooner or later, she would have to face this. But not now. She could build up to that, or something.

She changed best she could while sticking her arm around the door, which was difficult, but with some acrobatic skill and wordless communication with Diana, she managed quite well. She threw open the door, taking a proud stance with her hand on her hip.

“I did it!”

“Congratulations,” said Sucy unenthusiastically.

“ _We_ did it.” Diana corrected her, “You’re going to have to get used to that word.”

Akko’s stomach rumbled. “Anyways, I’m starving. Eat? I mean, should we get food now? What time is it, anyways?”

“Lunch starts in ten minutes,” said Sucy. How did she know that?

 “Perfect timing! Let’s go, then!” she began to walk down the hallway, but stopped when she began tugging Diana’s hand. She looked back and saw that Diana hadn’t moved. She was standing there, with her hand over her mouth. Why was she…?

People would see them. Of course. Akko hadn’t even thought of that, but now that she had, she felt a bit nervous as well.

Sucy sighed. “I’ll come with you guys, if it makes you feel less-”, she stopped herself. “Because I’m hungry too. Let’s go.”

Akko threw arms around her. “Thank you Sucy! You can be so sweet sometimes!”. Diana thought about saying something as well, but hesitated a bit too long.

“Get off me. I’ll change my mind.”

 “Right! Come on, then! Look out world, here comes Diakko!”

“Diakko? Diana questioned.

“Yeah! It’s a contraction of ‘Diana’ and ‘Akko’!”

“I’m not going to call you that,” said Sucy.

“Neither am I,” said Diana, “and neither are you. Please never use that word again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must've wrote and rewrote this about a thousand times because I felt like I couldn't anything to flow correctly. Also I unconsciously kept putting in jokes. Mmmm... I hope you enjoyed?


	4. The First Night

Diana was an intrepid explorer. She was the first ever to set foot in so many legendary places, from El Dorado to Shangri-La, and she was determined to be the first to set foot in Khem. Wet leaves slapped at her face as she pushed through the dense brush.

Diana was on a beautiful beach, which stretched in both directions as far as the eye could see. The ocean was a dazzling blue like which she had never seen in her life, and its surface sparkled nearly as bright as the sun. She wanted nothing more than to dive into the cool water, to wash the sweat and grime from her face.

She kicked off her boots and threw her jacket aside and sprinted towards the sea. Suddenly, she halted. She was up to arms in quicksand. She began to panic as she slowly sunk deeper and deeper, until she had to take last desperate breath before her face was pulled under.

Diana was falling. Distant green lights burned through the thick fog, giving her something to focus her attention on. She struggled to breathe. A snake had coiled its way around her, squeezing the air out of her body. She recognized it: It was one of Aunt Daryl’s snakes! Her body began to feel numb; her lungs screamed out for oxygen, but she was completely immobilized by the snake that was crushing the life out of her.

_Bang!_

A human form appeared in a puff of smoke. A woman. A witch? Wait, it was Akko!

“Ak-ko…” Diana croaked, with what air was left in her lungs. Everything would be okay now! Akko would save her!

But she seemed hesitant. Akko slowly floated towards her, with a somewhat nervous expression on her face. She reached her hand out towards Diana… and then stuck it in her mouth.

Diana awoke with a start, coughing and soaked in sweat, and a pair of fingers in her mouth. She spat out Akko’s hand and took a moment to just breathe.

It was still dreadfully hot. The windows were wide open, but her bed was to far away to feel any breeze. The sheets beneath her were disgustingly moist, making squishing and sucking sounds with every move of her muscles, and the sweaty, hundred-kilo Japanese girl on top of her didn’t help one bit.

It seemed that Akko had wrapped herself around Diana while they slept, with her face buried Diana’s bosom and her elbows digging into Diana’s sides, as well crushing the air out of her lungs. Diana wondered if she slept with a stuffed toy at home, or if perhaps there was something residing a bit deeper in her infant mind. Either way, Diana wasn’t a stuffed animal and she certainly wasn’t Akko’s mother. She pushed her off, letting the girl’s unconscious body flop over on its back.

 Today (Yesterday? What time is it?) was exhausting in every way. From running around Luna Nova and vomiting all morning to explaining their situation to literally everyone hundreds of times in the afternoon, Diana was beginning to learn where her limits began and ended, and Amanda seemed to think her and Akko’s dire situation was some sort of hilarious joke.

_“I see,” said Amanda. “And what about the part where you two got caught humping in the storage room, and had to make that entire thing up?”_

_“What? What exactly are you trying to imply, O’Neil?” asked Diana sharply._

_“Nothing! It’s just, I’ve heard some rumors. Someone told me that they saw you and Akko-” she leaned in for effect- “…making out.”_

_Diana reeled back in shock. Akko had hugged her earlier. Did someone see that?  She thought that she was sure nobody was around, but Amanda…!_

_“She’s messing with you,” said Sucy._

_Amanda threw her had back and laughed. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! I made that all up! Sorry, but you make the_ best _faces!”_

_Diana suppressed the urge to growl. She looked at Akko, hoping she might have something to say, but apparently the ditzy girl hadn’t even been paying attention._

“Amanda really does like to accuse me of being gay,” Diana murmured to herself, “perhaps she’s projecting…”

That was the last thought she had before she fell asleep again.

* * *

 

When Diana had first started working as a maid, she told herself that this job was just a stepping stone. Just a side gig to earn some extra money. After all, it was hardly every little girl’s dream to spend their whole life in servitude.

That day felt like an eternity ago. And frankly, so did that mindset. After a few years, she had become the Head Maid, and began to immensely enjoy her duties. Especially on days like today, doing chores like this. She loved taking down the sheets and comforters from the clothesline. They were at their warmest and fluffiest then, and even years later she always had an urge to wrap herself up in the soft blankets and fall asleep.

Diana pulled a thick, grey comforter from the clothesline, masterfully folding the giant blanket without letting it touch the ground. She pressed her face into it and sighed with pleasure. She began to carry it to the cart, but the comforter started to feel heavy in her arms. She stumbled, trying not to drop it, and fell flat on her back.

The comforter unfolded itself, pinning her to the ground. Moisture began to soak through it, only adding to its already impossible weight and making Diana suck in water when she tried to breathe.

 She cried out, but she doubted anyone was in earshot to help her. The water in her nose and on her face filled her with some primal dread. She clawed at the wet blanket, trying to find its end, but it only got wetter and heavier and she _screamed_ with all her might; she was going to suffocate under a blanket! What a pathetic way to go!

Then she woke up. It was so dark in her room it took a moment for her to realize she wasn’t still dreaming, and then a bit more for her to figure out what was going on.

Someone was not trying to smother her. Not intentionally, anyways. Akko had crawled on top of her again while she slept.

“Atsuko, what am I going to do with you?” Diana whispered.

Akko muttered in her sleep.

  _Find your soulmate._ That’s what the poster had said. Now, Diana didn’t believe in destiny, nor did she believe in soulmates by extension. It’s quite whimsical to think that the person you’re destined for is out there somewhere, living their life unknown, and possibly thinking of you as well. It’s quite comforting to think that your future is laid out in front of you, like an immovable path that stretches towards the horizon. Or perhaps it was terrifying.

Diana was quite skilled in Divining. Astrology, Numerology, Tea Leaf reading and the like, all supposed methods to see the future. Even normal, non-magical folk could buy a deck of Tarot Cards and see what lies in store for them. You might think that would be solid proof that destiny exists, but it’s quite the contrary; the mere existence of divination disproves the concept of destiny. Human beings have free will. Once you learn your “Destiny”, you could easily make the conscious decision to subvert that path, to rewrite the words of your life that had been set in stone.

Diana had seen Akko’s destiny, which was to drop out of Luna Nova. Instead, Akko went ahead and became a world-famous witch like she’d always dreamed of. That is was caused Diana to have this profound epiphany. The only other explanation was that Diana’s reading was wrong, but seriously now. What were the chances of that? She made it her plan to write a paper on the subject for her final in Magical Philosophy.

 _Find your soulmate._ Diana looked at the girl who was resting on top of her.

“ _Akko…”_

She rolled onto her side, so that Akko’s weight would no longer be crushing her. Yet, Akko didn’t let go. She clung to Diana with a murmur, nuzzling the nape of her neck. Ah, well. If the girl wanted to hang on to her, she would let her. It actually felt rather...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really tempted to make it so that Akko was only pretending to be asleep. That would be too much, lol.


	5. The First Morning

“Akko? Akko?”

Akko cracked open her eyes to see the fuzzy form of Diana leaning over her. She shut them again.

“Akko!”

Diana grabbed Akko’s wrists and pulled her upright. The covers fell onto her lap, exposing her body to the cold morning air. Now she was awake for good.

 “Ugh… it’s the middle of the night…” Akko said, rubbing her eyes. She pushed her shoulder blades back, prompting an audible crack.

“It’s 6:30. To be fair, I imagine it’s a lot earlier than you usually wake up,” said Diana.

“Mmhm. And you do this every day, I guess,” Akko muttered, mind still clouded. 

“Indeed. I thought about letting you sleep in, but that would’ve been a waste of time. It still took me fifteen minutes to wake you up, though.”

“I see. Gimmie fifteen minutes more…” Akko said. Diana caught her as she tried to flop back onto the bed.

“Akko, we’re waking up _now,”_ said Diana. She tried to lift the girl out of bed as she’d done yesterday, but Akko went completely slack, sending the both of them crashing to the floor.

“Akko! Quit being obstinate!” Diana scolded, “We’re two people now. Our morning routine is going to take twice as long. Now matter how late you normally sleep in, you’re going to have to get up earlier than you’re used to.”

“Oooh, okay,” said Akko in a somewhat mocking tone. She allowed herself to be pulled up nonetheless. She took one last glance at Diana’s warm and comfy bed. Last night, they had decided together that Akko would move in with the Blue Team. There were a few reasons for that decision, but the main one was that Diana’s room had more… well, room. As soon as Akko laid down on Diana’s bed last night, she knew was the one who came out on top in that deal.

“ _I’ll get to sleep again tonight, I guess.”_

She groaned, but allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.

“ _Plus, I’m hungry. Time for food_ ,” Akko thought. She instinctually began to walk in the direction of the door but found herself being guided to the bathroom instead.

“Oh no, we’re not leaving the room like this. Our first order of business is bathing,” Diana said. An electric shock shot through Akko’s body. Bathing? Seriously? She knew this would come eventually, but it still felt a bit too soon!

“Akko, keep your voice down! The girls are still asleep!” Diana hissed.

“ _Eh? I didn’t say anything?”_

Diana ushered her into the bathroom and shut the door behind them. It was surprisingly large on the inside. Akko had assumed it wasn’t any bigger than a closet, seeing as that’s how it appeared from the outside, but it was quite roomy, though, not nearly as luxurious as the rest of Diana’s dorm. It was just a simple sink, toilet, and old looking bathtub. A small window near the ceiling let the room fill with red light from the sunrise.

“Um… I’m more of an evening shower person,” said Akko nervously. She hoped the light would mask her flushing face.

“Akko, listen to me,” said Diana. She turned Akko’s head with her hand so that they were making eye contact.

“I understand that, perhaps you’re shy or uncomfortable when it comes to things such as this. But we’re two people now. We will be for a long time. We’re going to have to, ah, loosen up our boundaries if we’re to exist like this.”

“ _s-souka…”_ Akko whispered. She hadn’t really been listening; she felt like she was going to melt under Diana’s gaze.

…

“Akko?”

Akko snapped out of her trance. “Uh, yeah! Okay. You can go first. I’ll, um, just look over here.” She sat down and faced the wall.

“Oh. Alright,” said Diana.

“ _This is okay, this is fine._ ” Akko thought. She focused on her breathing, hoping to steady her racing heart. “ _I don’t need to look. I’ll try to just avert my- THIGH!”_

Akko’s train of thought crashed and burned as she caught a glimpse of Diana’s aforementioned. She tucked her head between her knees.

Yesterday had been so exhausting that the girls didn’t even bother to change before they passed out in Diana’s bed at 8:30. As such, they were both still wearing their dirty uniforms from yesterday. Akko felt three layers of clothing slide down her arm.

Akko felt around for Diana, so that she could put her clothes away without throwing up.

“Akko, I honestly don’t mind if you see me like this. It would be easier if you weren’t curled into a ball.”

“ _Yeah, well I wouldn’t be much help if I had a stroke and died,”_ Akko thought.

Akko heard the bath fill with water, and once she felt Diana get in she leaned her back up against it and finally opened her eyes. They sat in silence for a moment.

“Akko, can I ask you something?”

“Something like what?” asked Akko.

“Your hair. I thought perhaps I would get used to it, but your little ponytail thing- this thing,” she flicked the knot where Akko’s hair was tied back. “All day yesterday it was in my face. So…”

She grabbed the knot and wrapped her fingers under Akko’s red hairband in a wordless request for permission

“Yeah! It’s okay, if it bothers you that much,” Akko said.

Diana pulled the band out of Akko’s hair, letting it fall back into its natural state for the first time in possibly years.

…

“It fell in the tub, didn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

Diana rose from the bath and leaned over Akko to grab her towel. “It’s about your turn anyways,” she said.

She drained the water from the tub and kept looking back at Akko expectantly.

“Well? Do you want me to undress you myself?”

“ _Diana!”_ Akko screeched.

“I am Diana. And I’m only half joking. Hurry up, we’re running out of time.”

 

 

* * *

 

“Books?”

“Check!”

“Wand?”

“Check!”

“Tea?”

“Strongest you’ve got!”

“Hannah and Barbara?”

“Asleep!”

“Let’s wake them up!”

They crept up to Barbara, who was still sleeping peacefully and chewing on her pillow.

“Those two get to sleep in later than I usually do! So lucky…” Akko whispered. “How do you normally wake them up?”

As a reply, Diana ran her fingers through Barbara’s hair. She gently massaged her scalp until she started to stir.

“That’s so cute!” Akko cooed.

“It’s simply the easiest way,” responded Diana matter-of-factly. “She sleeps harder than you do, Akko.”

Barbara’s eyes fluttered open. “Akko?”

“It’s me! Akko! Good morning, sleepyhead!”

She sat up and stretched. “Not exactly a face one wants to see first thing in the morning. You two are cursed, aren’t you? But I thought that might’ve been a dream…”

Akko giggled, evidencing that the caffeine had taken full effect. “Yeah, I thought so too! I actually had a lot of weird dreams last night. Most of which ended with me in bed with Diana. I was pretty confused when I woke up.”

Barbara looked at her, then at Diana, and muttered, “ _What?”_ under her breath. She slid out of bed and picked up her uniform, which had been laid out nicely on her dresser the night before and went to wake up Hannah.

“Aww, they’re like sisters! I feel like such a mom right now!” said Akko.

Diana gave her a look. “You have such a unique view of things, Akko. Your thoughts are always interesting to hear,” she said.

“Don’t say you’ve never felt like a mom to those two?”

Diana simply shrugged. “Never mind. Let’s go eat breakfast.”

“Oh! Won’t we wait for Hannah and Barbara?”

“I believe my daughters can make it by themselves,” said Diana as she pulled open the door.

“Good morning, girls!” said Professor Ursula, who was standing right in the doorway. Diana and Akko both jumped back in surprise.

“Good morning, Professor. Excellent timing, I see,” Diana noted.

“Not exactly,” said Professor Ursula. “I wanted to be sure I would catch you two on time, so I got here extra early waited outside your door.”

“I see,” said Diana. “What did you need us for?”

“To tell you the good news!” Ursula replied. “Firstly, I did some research. Curses aren’t exactly my forte, so I asked Professor Lukic what she knew. She told me a lot of things, many strange things. But she also told me this: If we can find the item or person that cursed you, it’s usually possible to find a way to break the curse. Curses of binding are most commonly cast upon non-magical folk by malign or vengeful sorcerers. So…”

 she leaned forwards, and the glare in her glasses disappeared under Diana’s shadow, revealing her shining red eyes.

“…So?” Akko asked.

Diana’s serious expression melted away. “So if it was never meant to be cast on someone with magical knowledge, the curse must not be very complex!”

“What? How did you get that from that?” Akko sputtered.

“That’s right!” said Ursula, paying no attention to Akko. “You said you got cursed from a poster? If you can find it, and bring to me, we could break your curse before sundown!”

“That is excellent news,” said Diana. “After class today, we’ll go town and get that flyer. Hopefully it’s still there.”

“Well, this leads on to the other good news: class is cancelled.”

“Cancelled?” asked Akko

“Well, just for you. You two only have a few of your classes together, and that simply wouldn’t work in your state. So, you are excused from your classes until the curse is broken! Or until we can change your schedules. Whichever comes first.”

She quickly left, not really allowing for any further questioning. Which was a shame because Akko actually had a few questions to ask.

“Well, I guess that settles that. Let’s head to town, then,” said Diana.

They went up to storage to retrieve their brooms, and then began to meander towards the front entrance. As they came off the stairs, Akko heard voices and clinking cutlery resonating through the hallways. Her stomach grumbled.

“Diana, can’t we eat breakfast first? This will be like, the first time I’ve ever been early enough to get the good stuff!” said Akko as they continued down the hall.

“Good stuff? Today we’re supposed to be having hashed browns. Why don’t we eat in town? Give ourselves a break from the bland Luna Nova cuisine? One could assume you’ve never done _that_ before,” she said, in a mildly teasing manner that Akko didn’t pick up on in the slightest.

“Oh, yeah! Let’s do that! You’re so smart, Diana!” said Akko. “ _Crap,”_ she immediately thought. “ _I didn’t mean to say that. Did that seem like swooning? I hope she doesn’t think I’m swooning- “_

Diana chuckled. “Yes, and maybe if this little errand takes long enough, we can miss out on having potato stew for lunch.”

By then they had made it to the front gate of Luna Nova. Diana held her broom between her legs and chanted, “Tia Freyre!”

Akko hopped on behind her and wrapped her arms around Diana’s waist.

“Are you ready?”

“Hm!”

Diana tucked her arms in, and the broom shot forwards toward the gate. The leyline opened in front of them with a burst of blue light, swallowing them up and plunging them into the glowing void.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaa this chapter is a bit too short by my standards, but I felt really bad for waiting so long to release a new chapter even though probably no one cares...  
> Basically, the bathroom scene took me like, two weeks to write because I felt like I couldn't balance the panic/embarassment/cringe, and I don't think I did but Jesus, I'm not Shakespeare. I give up.
> 
> *I changed the time Diana usually wakes up at from 7:15 to 6:15, because if classes start at 8:00, 7:15 is almost reasonably early, which doesn't seem like Diana. I also changes something else but I can't remember what.  
> *also, thanks to the person who pointed out my typo last chapter. I don't know who you are, but you do. You're supposed to have other people proofread for you, but my passion for literature is a secret I'll take to my grave.


	6. The Worst Sidequest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is technically the second part to the previous chapter.

“Diana, I have a question.”

“Yes?”

Akko contemplated her wording for a moment, then said, “So, when you were talking with Ursula-Sensei about the curse… what did you mean when you said it’s ‘not very complex’? What does non-magic people whatever have to do with it?”

“I’m not sure what you think you’re asking, but I don’t think you’re asking what you think you’re asking. Or rather, the question you want to be asking,” said Diana.

“Whatever! Just tell me!”

“Well, where do I start? Curses are basically just magic spells, like your transformation or magic nullification spells. However, it’s multiple layers of sometimes simple and sometimes complex spells- all operating relative to one another. Like a computer program,” she explained.

“A computer program?” echoed a bewildered Akko.

“Alright, perhaps that was a bad explanation on my part,” said Diana. “It’s more like… a knot! When you tie two strings together, you could use a simple square knot. It’s easy to learn and gets the job done. But if you want your knot- to say, your curse- to be hard to get undone, you’ll need to make it a bit more complicated. Use multiple knots, multiple strings, until the knot is so needlessly complicated and frustrating that you just die.”

“That… makes sense,” Akko said. “Wow, I didn’t think I’d understand it at all. This is such a great feeling!”

“Well, I’m glad I could help,” Diana chuckled.

“I’m serious! You’re so much better at explaining things than the professors at school! They would probably just tell me to ‘focus’ or ‘think about it’ or something if I asked them a question like that. You should be a teacher one day,” she said. “And since you’ve agreed to help me study, my grade’s been better by fifty percent!”

“Fifty _points_ ,” Diana corrected her. “You went from a seven-two to a seven-seven.”

                “How do _you_ know that? Anyways, what does being not magical have to do with it?” asked Akko, returning to the former topic.

                “Well, think about it,” said Diana. The Japanese girl gave her a look, which of course she didn’t see because she was looking ahead.

Suddenly, Akko stood up.

                “Akko, careful!” Diana scolded.

                “Shh! Do you hear that?”

…

                “What do you hear?”

                “Music,” Akko responded. On rare occasions, Akko could faintly hear music while she traversed the leylines alone. A slow melody played by some instrument yet to be invented. An infinitely large choir, or an otherworldly quartet. It never failed to somehow make a swirling magical wormhole feel like the most tranquil place in the universe.

                “I don’t hear anything.”

Akko sat back down on the broom and once again wrapped her arms around Diana midsection. The song was relaxing… she let her head rest on Diana’s shoulder and shut her eyes.

                “ _The tea must be wearing off… that was fast,”_ Akko thought to herself.

They burst from the leyline into the pleasantly warm sunlight, just a few meters away from a flock of birds. They squawked at the pair and clumsily veered around them as they continued their path north for the summer.

Diana took a nosedive down to the town, then quickly angled out without losing any speed. As they whizzed through the streets, the textile rooves and stone windows blurred by like smears of paint. They rounded a corner, causing their slipstream to kick up a cloud of dust before they blasted off again.

Wind whipped through Akko’s hair and stung her eyes, and the world was flying beneath her sickeningly quickly. She buried her face in Diana’s back and listened to wind roaring in her ears.

                “ _This feels awful,”_ Akko thought. “ _I had no idea she was so fast… she beat the Shooting Star in the broom relay last year, didn’t she?”_

Suddenly, the broom lurched 360 degrees around its front before finally coming to a rest. Akko opened her eyes. They were in front of a tall, narrow building with one large window and a few tables out front. The door was propped open by a brick, and a homemade sign reading “open” hung above it.

                “What’s this place? You’ve been here before? It doesn’t even have a name,” Akko stated, pointing out the lack of a title of any sorts on the building.

                “This is ‘Mañana’s Breakfast and Lunch Café’. Hannah and Barbara found this place last summer, and we spent nearly our entire break here. It’s quite distinguished. As far as I know, anyways. The girls never wanted to eat anywhere else,” Diana recalled.

                “Distinguished?”

 On the inside, the café had several booths along one wall, and a counter with several platters of pastries on it along the other. No one appeared to be behind it, but there was a chalkboard with the word “Mañana’s” written across it in cursive, as well as a menu.

                “’Mañana’s’,” Akko read aloud. “Is that French? Ooh, they’ve got omurice!”

 

* * *

 

 

                “You realize the point of coming her was to _avoid_ eating potato again, right?”

Diana eyed Akko’s order of hash browns. They weren’t anything like the school’s hash browns; which was to say, salty shredded potatoes. These hash browns were smothered with melted cheese, bacon, and veggies. She hadn’t had omurice since forever, but it would be a bit weird to eat it for breakfast. She never really thought of it as a lunch food either, so it was strange that they served it at a “breakfast and lunch café”

                “You’re the one who wanted to eat out for breakfast. Besides, I happen to like potato when it’s made right. Starch is healthy for me,” Akko said. Diana simply responded, “Hm” and took another bite of her egg.

                “Hey Diana, I bet I can eat the rest of my hash browns in one bite. Wanna see?” asked Akko. She still had nearly a half plate full.

                “Absolutely _not_.”

Akko picked up her plate and tried to shovel the potatoes into her mouth. When pieces started falling out, she let go of her fork and started stuffing it in with her free hand.

                “I gah ah! Ah gah ama maugh!” gagged Akko triumphantly. She spit the potatoes back onto her plate. She looked at Diana and smiled, anticipating a reaction.

Diana leaned forward onto her knuckles. “Fascinating. Now are you just trying to get a rise out of me, or do you honestly think this is normal? Because I’ve grown quite accustomed to your antics.”

“Uh?”

Diana chuckled, but said nothing and returned to her food. After a few minutes, Akko noticed that Diana kept looking past her.

                “What are you looking at? Have you decided that you want to sit outside after all?”

                “No, that person out there,” said Diana, nodding to a figure standing motionless across the street. “There’s something… uncanny about them.”

Akko looked over her shoulder. A thin, red-haired boy in a polo shirt seemed to be watching them- or someone else in the café- from afar. Except, it might not be a boy…

                “Hey, that’s Amanda!” Akko exclaimed. “What’s she doing out here?”

                “Amanda?” questioned Diana. She furrowed her brow, looking closer at the figure. “That is Amanda! She must be using metamorphic magic! She’s skipping class!”

                “Now hold on,” Akko stuck her finger out. “Maybe she has a good reason to be out here. Maybe she got special permission. I mean, we’re out here, aren’t we?”

                “She most certainly does _not_ have a good reason to be out here,” said Diana. “If someone had gotten permission to leave campus during school hours, I would have heard about it. What she’s doing is grounds for expulsion.”

                Then she took another glance out the window. “Oh, she’s gone! Come on, we have to catch her!”

 She gulped down the rest of her tea and sprung up from her seat.

                “Wait, what about paying for the food?”  asked Akko as they rushed out the door.

                “Don’t worry, I’ll pay for us later. The people that work there like me.”

_People work there?_

Akko scanned the streets.  She didn’t see any sign of where Amanda could’ve gone. But it was probably for the best. She didn’t want her friend to be expelled, after all. But honestly, it probably would’ve happened sooner or later.

                “Here. She went this way,” said Diana. She started towards the intersection to their left.

                “What? How can you possibly know that?”

                “Isn’t it obvious? If she went that way, to Second Street, we would still be able to see her right now; she couldn’t’ve made it to the end before we got out here. So, she went this way,” Diana explained.

                “What if she just tuned invisible?”

They rounded the corner and sure enough, they were just in time to see Amanda round the next corner back to Second. The girls ran after her, weaving through vehicles and throngs of people on their way. They turned ‘round the next corner to see Amanda go into a shop on the other side of the street.

                “She went into that bookstore! She hasn’t anywhere to run now! Ha! Does she even know that we’re following her?” laughed Diana. “Let’s hurry. And watch out for cars!”

They crossed the street and made their way to the store, which was named “Abbey’s” according to the paint on the windows. However, due to the glare, that’s all she could see from the outside. Before Diana could make it to the door, Akko dug her heels in.

                “Hold on a minute,” she said. “We can’t just go in there and confront her!”

                “And why ever not?” Diana questioned.

                “Because! Have you ever confronted Amanda, ever? She always makes it work out in her favor somehow,” Akko pointed out.

                “Hmm… I don’t necessarily agree with what you’re saying, but she is rather… explosive when she’s cornered. Perhaps we should go about this in a more subtle manner, if possible. But I don’t imagine _you_ have a plan, do you?”

                Akko laughed. “Ha! Do I ever? I’ve been wanting to use this spell since the day I saw it!”

She held up her wand. “ _Metamorphie vestesse!”_

In a poof of smoke, her skirt turned into pants and her hair disappeared under a gaudy top hat. Her form also changed to appear more slightly masculine, perhaps a binder was under there somewhere. But that was about it.

                “Whaddaya think? Impressive?”

“Mmm… I suppose,” Diana hummed. “Won’t Amanda recognize your vest?”

                “Nah! Here, let me do you!” Akko suggested, readying her wand.

                “No thanks. I can do myself.”

Diana protruded her wand and chanted the transformation spell. She was enveloped by a puff of smoke as she magically transformed. Her uniform had turned into cargo shorts and a grey graphic t-shirt in the pattern of a flag Akko didn’t recognize. Her flats were replaced by brightly-colored running shoes, and her hair was cut short and swept back.

                “Wow, I don’t even know you anymore,” said an awestruck Akko. “But your unique attractiveness doesn’t really translate in boy form.”

                “My what?”

                “Ooh, what’s your boy name going to be? For me, I was thinking I could be…” she paused to twirl in a circle for effect. “Kagari Asturo.”

                “Atsuro?” Diana wondered. “Is that the masculine form of Astuko? Like Gabriel and Gabriella?”

                “I don’t know. Okay, you pick a name!”

                “Must I? I rather like ‘Diana’. It’s not like we’ll be talking to her,” said Diana.

                “Come on, it’s fun! Don’t you ever wonder what your life would be like if you weren’t a girl?”

                “Never. But if I must...” she thought for a moment. “Hmm. How about… Denver Cavendish?”

                “Denver…” Akko said it slowly, as if she were rolling it about on her tongue. “It takes the bourgeois and elegant nature of ‘Diana’ and wraps it in a new energy. I like it.”

                “Do you even know what you’re saying right now?” Diana asked.

                “I’m paraphrasing something I read in an online food review.”

That bookstore was quite small on the inside, somewhere on the border between “cramped” and “cozy”. The entire store consisted of just three long bookshelves and four narrow aisles. Magazines also lined the walls and there was a book tree on display in the bay window.

 From somewhere behind a bookshelf, someone who sounded a lot like Amanda was muttering to themselves.

                “Shit, I hope they didn’t see me,” said the voice. “Well, I had my disguise on. Even if they saw me they would’ve never recognized me,” the voice reassured itself. The sound of footsteps grew louder, as did the voice.

                “Yeah, no way! Those two were fatically enamored with each other! Those lovebirds-!” the owner of the voice rounded the corner and gasped. Who was the owner of said voice? Amanda O’Neil, of course! Back in all her glory. Well, she still wearing the same clothes, but her hair was back to normal.

Akko and Diana (Aro? Dennis? Akko couldn’t remember their boy names in the moment) froze. Amanda had also frozen, and was staring at the couple who was blocking her exit. Then she laughed.

                “Sorry, sorry! Did I scare you? Don’t be scared to say yes, I’d take that as a compliment.”

                “…”

                “I thought you were someone else,” said Amanda, chuckling. Then, her expression hardened, and her tone turned serious. She leaned in close and said, “By the way, I owe them a debt that’s long overdue. So if a couple a girls who look kinda like you come asking about someone who looks kinda like me, tell them you never saw me.”

She pulled back and smiled. “Please. I got so much on the line here.”

She pushed through the door and disappeared, leaving Akko and Diana standing stunned in the bookstore.

 

* * *

 

 

                “…from the Last Wednesday Society, I went left… then I took another left, back toward the leyline,” Diana recalled.

They had given up on catching Amanda. Well, Diana had, apparently. Akko wasn’t especially motivated in the first place. Instead, they went back to the café, got Diana’s broom, and began on the task which was the _real_ reason they came to town in the first place.

Akko followed closely behind Diana, since she was the one who knew where the cursed flyer was. Diana turned another corner then stopped.

                “I think it was here…” said Diana. She scanned the street. “There it is! It’s still there!”

They crossed the road and approached the streetlamp that Diana had pointed to. A couple who looked to be about college-aged were standing underneath it.

                Diana cleared her throat. “Excuse me, we need to get past.”

The girl looked down at her.

                “Oh my God, Diana! And Akko!”

                “Huh? You know us?” asked Akko.

                The guy spoke up. “Do you know these kids, babe?”

                “It’s Diana and Akko!” she responded. “The ones who saved Ireland from the missile? With the longbow and the magic and the pretty lights in the sky?”

                He frowned. “I don’t remember that.”

Diana cleared her throat, more forcefully this time. “Yes, that was us. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Now, if you could just- “

“Can I take a picture with you?”

                “We really are busy right now…”

                “Can I take a picture _of_ you?” she had already taken out her phone.

Diana sighed. “Alright, alright. Do you want me to make your camera float, so the four of us can be in the picture at once?”

After the timer finished going off, the girl plucked her phone out of the air and began swiping through them with a huge smile on her face.

                “Thank you two _so_ much! I’m not bothering you, am I? My name’s Alex, by the way! I’ve always loved magic and witchy things. In Wisconsin, the closest thing we get to magic is creepy forest monsters. Older folks even think witchcraft is evil. That’s why I wanted to come to Blytonbury for our honeymoon! To look inside some _real_ magic stores, and see the leyline terminal to Luna Nova!”

                “ _This girl can really talk,”_ Akko thought.

“I definitely didn’t think I’d get to meet you two! Sorry for making such a fuss, I bet this happens every time you try to go out,” she continued

“Closer to one in ten times,” said Diana.

“So what are doing outside the school, anyways? I heard witches don’t normally leave the school grounds during the week. Hey, why aren’t you on any social media? You should make a Twitter!”

“We’re looking for a flyer. That flyer, as a matter of fact,” Diana pointed at the flyer on the lamp post which the couple was standing in front of.

“Oh, this one?” Alex reached out to grab it for them.

“NOO, STOP!” Akko screamed. “It’s cursed! It’s a cursed flyer! Touching it will curse you!”

Akko leapt forward and snatched the flyer off the post before Alex could touch it.

                Alex frowned. “I could’ve handled it. I happen to dabble a bit myself, you know.”

The flyer itself didn’t seem very magical. It was just simple sheet of printing paper, if a bit worn after spending days out in the elements. It had a thick red border, and inside, in large letters, was printed, “FIND YOUR SOULMATE”

                Akko began to feel weak. “S-s… soulmate? Was this…?”

                “Indeed, it was. You don’t believe in soulmates, do you Akko?” said Diana.

                “…no?”, said Akko, then quickly followed it up with, “Hey, there’s something weird with this flyer. The little flap things- the whatever they’re called where the phone number goes- there’s nothing written on them.”

                Diana nodded. “You’re correct. And, it fortunately, it looks as if no one else has taken one,” she said, referring to the single torn-off strip that she’d taken two days ago. “We should get this back to Professor Ursula immediately.”

They bid the couple farewell.

 

* * *

 

 

Did Akko believe in soulmates? That was a difficult question to answer; she didn’t think about it that much. It’s true, she loved Diana. There was nothing more she wanted in this world than to be able to express that love, and to feel it be reciprocated. However, she had given up hope of this fairly quickly. Diana was… beautiful. And smart, and kind, and extremely mature for her age. She might as well have lived in a completely different world.

Over time she had built up a metaphorical armor around her heart, and the pain that came from thinking of the love that just wasn’t meant to be faded into near nothing. But today… today changed everything.

In one sweaty hand, she clutched the flyer. In the other, she held on loosely to Diana’s fingers. She took a deep breath. She felt weak and clammy, exhausted and scared. And at the same time, slightly hopeful. So, did she believe in soulmates?

She did now.

She took a deep breath and pushed her thoughts to back of her head, something she had become quite good at. 

 

* * *

 

 

The halls of Luna Nova were empty. Classes were over, and everyone was in their dorms or outside enjoying the sunset.

                “Hah… Hah… I don’t remember these stairs being so steep,” Akko panted. She lagged a bit behind the blonde witch as they climbed the narrow spiral staircase up to Professor Ursula’s room.

When they got there, they found the door to her room was wide open.

                Akko rapped on the door. “Professor Ursula?”

A shuffling noise came from above, then Professor Ursula poked her head out from the balcony. “Hello, girls!”

                “Your door is wide open,” Akko pointed out.      

                “I know. I’m creating a draft,” she replied. The large observatory window also open. Well, it would be more accurate to say that it was missing in its entirety.

                “Anyways, did you find the poster? You sure took a while,” she continued.

                “We sure did! And we found the poster!” said Akko. She held up the weathered and wrinkled paper.

                “Excellent!”

Professor Ursula made her way down the stairs and took the sheet from Akko with her wand.

                “I’ll get right to work on this,” she said. “I rarely get to work with cursed items. I’m rather exited! Although…” she yawned. “…I’m also rather tired. When I said I would be able to break your curse by the end of the day, I was assuming you would’ve earlier.”

                “Yes… I apologize for that. Akko wanted to get ice cream and it just snowballed from there.” said Diana. “Could we assist you any further?”

                “Oh, don’t worry about it! This will be simple. It’s getting late after all, you two should head back to your rooms. Come visit me first thing tomorrow morning though, alright?”

                “Hey, what happened to your window?” asked Akko out of the blue.

                “My window? I took it off. It gets so hot in here, I felt like a bug under a magnifying glass.”

                “What will you do when it rains?” Diana questioned.

                “Nevermind. Goodnight, girls,” said Ursula. She ushered them out of the room.

Diana and Akko silently made their way down the stairs.

                “Diana, I think Professor Ursula is going crazy.”

Diana didn’t say anything in response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Another month, another chapter. I want to update more often! In order to motivate myself, I browse through the other lWA fanfictions and look at all their kudos so I get jealous. I'm kidding. Kind of.
> 
> *like, critism welcome. please
> 
> *If you're worried about proffesorwref Ursula, don't be. Snide comments like that are kinda hard to convey through text. IMO
> 
> *i like to make long endnotes because it makes me feel like people care what i have to say


	7. Study Date

“Happy one-week anniversary!”

Akko placed a small cupcake with a candle wedged into it on the table.

“Anniversary?” Diana asked.

“Anniversary! One week ago today, we found out that we were cursed to spend all eternity together!” said Akko.

“Ah. I’m quite certain it was last Monday, actually. You’re a day late. Where did you get that cupcake from anyways?” asked Diana. She looked at Amanda, and the other party members who were eating with them, but their attention seemed to be focused elsewhere.

“Hm? It’s for you, silly!” said Akko.

“No,” said Diana, “where did you get it from? You didn’t have it earlier. Did you? How would you have kept it hidden in all of our classes…?”

She began to ramble. “Did you ask someone to give it to you while my back was turned? How would you have planned something like that if we’ve been together for the past week? Did you summon it just now with magic? Have you become skilled enough to achieve something like that? Have you been studying in secret? No, because you’ve-“

                 “Diana!” Akko cut her off. “You’re overthinking it!”

                “Then… how?”

                Akko giggled. “Simple. It’s a secret! Now eat your cupcake.”

Diana looked at the squashed pastry. More than half of its surface area was taken up by a candle that certainly wasn’t safe for food.

                “Uh, thanks. But I think I’ll pass.”

                “Well, if you don’t want it…”

Deep in thought, Diana watched the dark-haired witch peel the wrapping off the cupcake and pluck the out the candle. She took one giant bite, then retched as she got the full flavor of candle residue.

                “Seriously, how did you do it?”

 

* * *

 

 

                “Alright. Now, I want you to read this summary which I wrote for you. Read it aloud, and when you’re done, you’ll turn it over and I ‘ll quiz you on it,” said Diana. Akko nodded in agreement, then took a moment to skim over the paper.

They were stilled cursed, by the way. The day after they had given the flyer to professor Ursula, they returned to check on her progress with the curse. She told them she might need a few days more, as the curse was more complicated than she had thought. They came back a week later, and she said she needed to do some more research on curses of binding before she resumed work on their curse. She of course, refused any offers of help, reassuring the girls that she could handle it on her own.

A week after that, she said she was stumped. She said she was going to call in an “old friend” to help them out. Apparently one that was better at that stuff than she was.

Akko cleared her throat.

                “ _Count Cagliostro was born in the 16 th century to unknown parents. He was taken under the care of his uncle, Althotas, who mentored him throughout his early childhood. At the age of twelve, Cagliostro embarked on a journey to Mecca to meet the Sherif. Although it can be speculated that the Sherif, or some other wealthy individual in Mecca might have actually been Cagliostro’s father, it is uncertain. Cagliostro deliberately tried to shroud his origins in mystery._

_After three years, Cagliostro left Mecca for Egypt, where he studied the arcane arts under guidance of the wizard known as Grand Master Pinto, from the House of Life. Even during the Golden Age of Magic, Count Cagliostro was an especially talented magician, despite being both a man and an alleged first-generation mage. It has been theorized that he obtained such power through a secret ritual which he, his master, and uncle performed inside the Great Pyramid of Giza._

_Soon after, Cagliostro lost his motivation to continue studying magic, and the death of his uncle Althotas cemented his decision to leave for good. He left for Britain, where he settled down for a bit after joining the Freemasons and meeting his soon-to-be wife, Serephina Feleciani._

_Cagliostro’s path on the road of Freemasonry started innocently enough, but would ultimately lead to the tragic consequences in store for him years to come. During this time, he happened to purchase a booklet on Egyptian Freemasonry, which he found overwhelmingly inspirational. This renewed his passion for magic, and with a new love for Freemasonry, his dream was now to spread the wonders and miracles of magical throughout the world, with his ultimate goal being the total spiritual regeneration of humanity._

_At one point, for one reason or another, Cagliostro decided to predict the winning lottery numbers for his friends. They won, but when he was asked to do it again, be refused. Angry, jealous, and perhaps a overly greedy, his friends…”_

                It was a lot of words, and Akko read in a _very_ tedious monotone. Diana stopped listening to the essay (she already knew it quite well, considering she was the one who had written it) and instead focused her attention on Akko’s face.

                She continued to read, brows furrowing when she slowed down to sound out an unfamiliar word, and occasionally pausing when she somehow managed to lose her place. But Diana could tell she was trying hard. Whenever Akko was concentrating on a task, she would begin to trace circles on Diana’s palm with her thumb. Apparently she wasn’t aware she did it, and Diana couldn’t help but crack a smile as she watched the girl’s thumb go around and around.

She decided she would never point it out.

           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I get ideas that are too short to be made into chapters. So, you know how some TV shows, like The Office have intro scenes? I think that translated pretty well into writing. If not, whoops. Tell me so I don't do it again.
> 
> *I decided this chapter sucked to I changed it a little.
> 
> *Hope you enjoyed!


	8. The Mad Scientist

For the past month, Akko’s nightly routine was the same. Dinner, then shower, (She and Diana had started showering at night to save time) then after that, they would read, or study, or talk, or just lounge around until Diana called lights out.

Having run out of things to say, the girls silently slipped under the covers of their bed. Diana blew out the lone lamp that was tasked with lighting up their corner of the room. Darkness enveloped.

She shifted around trying to get comfortable. Then she fluffed her pillow and relaxed back into it. For the longest time, Akko had found it hard to believe that there were people out there who had trouble falling asleep.

 _“I mean, it’s just laying there and doing nothing! How hard could it be?”_ she thought to herself.

Of course, the answer to that question became apparent the first time she slept with Diana. In order to tire her mind out, she would shut her eyes and try to pay close attention to the subtle sounds of the night.

She heard Diana breathing. Along with that, she could hear Hannah and Barbara softly snoring from across the room. She heard the curtains blowing in the breeze. Diana liked the window to be open at night, for whatever reason. She opened her eyes.

Across the looming shapes above her, the curtain’s silhouettes danced in a pool of moonlight. She watched them, gracefully twirling and bouncing, letting her eyes slide shut once more, only half aware of the warmth she felt envelop her.

Warm… and soft…

“D-Diana!?”

Akko was jolted back into the night to find herself wrapped in Diana’s embrace.

“Hmm… you’re awake…?” Diana murmured. Her voice was low, her cadence choppy, and her hot breath left a tingling sensation across Akko’s scalp. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“…”

“Every night… since our first night… I would wake up to find that you had latched onto me in your sleep… just like this,” said Diana.

“S-seriously!?”

“But recently you stopped,” she continued. “And if I’m being honest… I’ve missed it.”

“…”

“No, this isn’t right…” she said. Akko only had a brief moment to wonder what she meant by this before she found herself being turned over to lay on top of Diana. She stuck out her arm and caught herself.

“Diana?”

Messy hair guarded Diana’s face from the pale light, obscuring it in darkness. For a long minute, Akko just stared down into where her eyes might’ve been.

“Diana? Are you-”

Diana wrapped her arms around her and pulled her back down into her embrace, muffling the Japanese girl’s question in her chest.

“Just like this…” she sighed.

Akko hoped Diana couldn’t feel her heart pounding through her ribcage.

 

* * *

 

Winter had finally fallen upon the island of Britannia, which of course didn’t mean much, aside from the fact that the rain had become cold and wet rather than warm and wet. It had been nearly half a year since that fateful morning when the girls learned that they might be destined for each other. And also, Diana thought, half a year was the exact amount of time it took for Amanda to run out of jokes, for Akko to lose track of anniversaries, and for Professor Ursula to stop pretending she had a hope of breaking this curse by herself.

A few months ago, the Professor said she would call in an “old friend” to come help. They were never mentioned again, until today, when Ursula broke the good news that her “friend” would arrive by this evening! Diana had some idea as to who this friend was. And if she was correct in her assumption, that would mean the only reason they hadn’t come sooner was because A.) They didn’t care, or B.) They were in prison.

But she would find out soon enough.

As they approached the top of the spiral staircase to Professor Ursula’s, Akko’s pace increased, and Diana had to grip her hand tighter as a reminder to not run ahead. What would lie beyond the door atop the steps?

A strange contraption had been erected in the center of the room. It looked like some sort of massive death ray from a movie, where the two barrels were pointed at each other, both emitting beams of red light, and suspended in the light was the flyer that neither of the girls had seen in forever.

The two glass barrels were connected to a metal arc, which had a tower on top of it that reached all the way to the ceiling. From that tower, an array of tubes and pipes and wires spanned the entire room, and it was so incredibly dense, one could hardly see any sunlight coming through it, like the canopy of a rainforest.

            “Hello, girls. How have you been?” asked Professor Ursula from her desk on the other side of the room.

            “Really great!” said Akko.

            “Yes, we’re well. Where is this friend of yours?” asked Diana, getting right to the point.

            “She’s right here!” Ursula responded, and gestured above them.

Diana looked up. Just at the edge of view, a pair of boots were visible, standing on a very familiar flying machine that resembled an autonomous vacuum cleaner. The machine began to descend, and into view came the figure of a very familiar woman, wearing a very familiar cape, a very familiar pair of goggles, and had very familiar purple wavy hair.  In all her glory, after all this time, it was…

Well, do I even need to say who it was?

            “Professor Croix!” cried Akko. She nearly leapt forwards to wrap her in a giant, one-armed hug.

            “Well, what a warm welcome! However, no one calls me _that_ anymore. Just ‘Croix’, if you please,” she said.

            “Ah. You quit teaching?” asked Diana.

            “I lost my teaching license. As well as some of my other licenses. And I can’t leave home without an armed parole officer accompanying me,” she replied.

            “Officer? Huh? Where is he?” asked Akko, looking around.

            “At home.”

There was a silence.

            “I’m kidding, I’m _kidding_!” Croix laughed. “Haven’t you ever heard me joke before? I can joke sometimes,” she said.

            “Anyways!” she continued. “Not only that, but in the short amount of time I’ve been here, Ursula and I, (mostly I) set up _This Machine_!”

She spread her arms out to emphasize the grandeur of The Machine.

“I have yet to name it. But with the help of this machine, and your lovely professor, I’ve found not one, not two, but _three_ potential solutions to your strange body-touchy-lovey-dovey-soulmate-curse issue!”

            “Really? What are they?” asked Akko.

            “Would you like me to tell you?”

            “…?”

            “Alright! Possible Solution Number One: Death!”

            “Excuse me?”

            “You heard me right! Based on my research-”

            “Your _several hours_ of research,” Diana reminded her.

            “-based on my research, destruction of the cursed object would break the curse, free of any adverse consequences! For one of you,” she said.

…

            “Ah, anyways. Possible Solution Number Two: Soul Replacement!”

            “Soul Replacement? You’ll replace our souls? Like possession?”

Croix laughed another hearty laugh. “Akko, you haven’t changed in the slightest. Humans aren’t capable of possession! Yet. Have you met that girl Constanze? She tells a fascinating tale. When she was young, she contracted a magical illness, some sort of advanced Corprus. However, a nameless ingenious healer had a brilliant idea! She removed Constanze’s soul from her body, and placed it in that robot of hers. Since robots can’t die, the disease couldn’t hurt her! And now Constanze will live forever!”

Akko was enchanted. “Woahh... Forever? Conz?”

            “Well, she may have been making it up,” Croix continued. “But the operation is a real one. We take one of your souls and place it in an inanimate object- something like a ring or a necklace- then the other will just keep it with them for the rest of their life! With them, a piece of you. It’ll trick the curse into operating like you’re still touching physically.”

            “That’s so romantic!”

“Indeed. However, it may come at a cost. Constanze lost her voice. And based on my research, she was one of the lucky ones.

“And that leads us to Possible Solution Number Three: Find whoever made the curse and ask them to reverse it!” she concluded.

Diana frowned. “Is that all of your ideas?”

“I thought you were supposed to save the best for last,” said Akko.

Then Croix frowned. “I thought it was the best. Although I suppose it’s hard to tell. Let’s just say they’re equally… I don’t think ‘great’ is the right term. But they’re not equally terrible, either.”

            Diana sighed, “ _Well, this was another waste of time,”_ she thought. She wasn’t a pessimistic person in the slightest, despite the tellings of the people she chose to surround herself with. She was simply realistic. And realistically, the chances of getting out of this mess were slim, possibly even slimmer than the chances of getting into it.

Akko and the former professor were talking about something else now, but Diana wasn’t listening. She wasn’t a negative person in slightest, but there comes a point when you just need to give up. From where she stood right now, a life of singing duets in the shower and never being cold at night didn’t seem so bad compared to a life of fruitless searching.

A life without a moment to yourself is much better than a life spent completely alone, right?

Now it just felt like she was trying to convince herself. She tuned in to the outside conversation instead.

            “…Indeed. Maybe brush up on your spanish a bit, too,” Croix was saying. “ Our work begins now!”. Then she turned to the younger witches and said, “As for you two, you should run along and get some rest. I’ve been blasting you with diffracted aethereal waves the whole time you’ve been standing here. It takes really takes the steam out of person, if you know what I mean.”

“ _What?”_

“It’s not worth explaining, but you’ll both be fine. That’s all you really care about, right? Now, your teacher and I have important matters to take care of. Goodnight, girls.”

And with that, they found themselves with a door promptly shut in their face.

…

“Diana, what were they saying back there?” asked Akko as they headed down the steps from Professor Ursula’s room.

Their footsteps echoed throughout the tower as Diana thought for a moment.

“About the waves? Diffraction is what happens when a wave passes through a slit. I’m not entirely sure what aethereal waves are, though.”

“No, before that!”

“Oh. Honestly, I wasn’t listening.”

“Whaaaat? Whaddaya mean? What if she said something important? You’re always the responsible one!”

Diana shrugged. “You aren’t a good influence, I suppose.”

“Hmph.”

They came to the bottom of the steps and started to walk in opposite directions.

“Where are you going? Our room is this way,” Akko pointed down the hall.

“Well…” Diana began to say, “We told everyone that we would be right back...”

“Professor Croix told us to get some rest, so we should do that,” Akko said.

“Do you honestly trust her?”

“And besides, I’m super tired!”

“You only feel tired because she said you would feel tired.”

“Nuh uh! I really am tired! And if I’m tired that means you’re tired too!”

Diana said nothing, but tried to give Akko the stare of “I’m right and you know I am”. She expected Akko to return with some sort of pout of her own. She was taken aback when the girl instead leaned forward onto her.

Almost reflexively, Diana reached up to start stroking Akko’s hair, but stopped herself

“C’mon Diana…” Akko murmured.

Diana sighed.

 

* * *

 

Diana’s room (and I suppose it was Akko’s room too, by now) fluttered to life as soon as they stepped through the door. The room had changed quite a bit since Akko had taken up it’s residence. Her dirty clothes hung over the partition between their bed and the rest of the room. Unfinished assignments were scattered across the desks, as well as miscellaneous knick knacks, some of emotional or fiscal value, others not so much. Also, more dirty clothes.

The glass table that had once stood between the green velvet chairs was gone, as it had been destroyed in an accident. It’s long story, and a rather uninteresting one. The two beds, whose owners were currently having a good time with Lotte and Sucy, were unmade, yet another signification of Akko’s contagious sloppiness.

“Diana look, it’s snowing!”

Indeed it was! At long last! They closed in on the window to get a better look. From the pitch blackness, fat white snowflakes were blowing in, landing on the window, and melting. Droplets of water would then run down glass, slowly and lazily.

Diana sat down on the couch to watch the snow fall, and Akko flopped down next her, letting out a quiet “ahh” as she leaned on her shoulder.

“You know, I was quite ready for winter to be over, what with the dreadful weather we’ve been having,” said Diana. “But… this is nice too.”

Akko snored.

“Asleep already? You really were tired,” she said, then yawned. “I understand. I’m tired too.”

“ _And I’m talking to no one.”_ She leaned her head back and began to thoughtlessly run her fingers through Akko’s hair.

“ _It has been awhile since I’ve had a moment by myself like this. I would… just sit and think, for hours… What would I even think about? I can’t imagine…”_

Moving to the bed was out of the question by now. Diana carefully laid down on the couch, trying not to disturb the Japanese girl sleeping peacefully on top of her.

It _is_ a strange thing to worry about. But lately, Diana had been feeling strange feelings. The type of feelings that made her want to hug Akko, holding her close. The feeling that made her want to make Akko happy, and to feel her soft hair on her cheek. She was sure that feeling had a name, but she couldn’t quite place her finger on it…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *At long last, the new chapter is out! To anyone who has actually been following this fic (which I'm not sure if anyone has), I apologize for the wait. Accidentally exploded my arm bones in a chi breathing exercise. As someone who was inspired to create fanfiction by reading other fanfiction, I know how bad it feels when authors abandon fics! So I promise to never abandon this fic, even if no one cares! Even if everyone is sending me mean messages telling me my work is garbage! It's really more of an ego thing at this point. I'm kidding.
> 
> *The Red Team and Blue Team were playing Uno 2, a game they made up. They would've called it Dos, but that's already taken. It's basically a combination of of Uno, Jan Ken Pon, and Othello.
> 
> *Criticism Welcome! It doesn't even have to be constructive! Just tell me I suck, I don't care! Also, I still hope you enjoyed!


	9. A Day on the Lake!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey, Diana! I have a riddle for you. What's black and white and red all over?"  
> "Jeez Akko, everyone knows that. It's a sunburned peng-"  
> "A newspaper!"  
> "Ah, that too I suppose. But it doesn't really make sense in writing."  
> "What?"

Akko ducked low to avoid being smacked by icy branches as they pushed through the dense forest on broomback. Where were they? Somewhere near a lake that was just a few minutes north of Blytonbury, and if they were lucky, was also frozen. The temperature had been sub-zero for several days, with minimal wind. Perfect conditions for skating, according to Amanda. 

Oh yeah, Amanda was there too, so it wasn’t a date or anything.

She was effectively flying circles around the much more cautious couple, weaving through trees and doing cartwheels and whooping all the while. This whole thing was actually Amanda’s idea. They  _ had _ invited the others, but unfortunately none of them could make it . Lotte had homework, Sucy had gone deaf, Jasminka was sleeping and Constanze was nowhere to be found. Diana was also apprehensive to the idea at first, but Akko begged and pleaded and threatened until she caved.

“Honestly Amanda, what  _ are  _ you doing? Your clothes will freeze to your body,” Diana chastised. Amanda had been letting herself get smacked by the snowy branches as she flew around. 

“Whatever! I can dry myself off whenever I want. Are you saying I can’t use magic?” asked Amanda. She slowed down to float alongside them.

“I was not implying that at all. However, that option is only preferable after not getting soaking wet in the first place,” Diana replied.

“Fair, fair. I guess don’t need magic to do  _ this, _ either!”

Amanda jumped up on her broom and grabbed the branches above, knocking snow on all three of them. Diana sighed and muttered something under her breath.

* * *

 

The lake was quite beautiful when frozen- in fact, Akko had never seen anything like it with her own eyes. It seemed much, much bigger than it did in the summertime, and the flat, stark white plane looked like it went on for miles, until it gave way to the snow-caked trees and hills in the distance. Even though Amanda and Diana had assured her the ice was plenty thick, she couldn’t help but tread lightly.

“Hey,” she said, scraping the snow off the ice with her boot, “how are we supposed to skate on this? It’s at least ten centimeters deep!”

The ice beneath it, however, was very smooth and bluish, and she could make out the cloudy shapes of rocks on the lake bottom.

“Hey, we’re witches,” Amanda said. “We’ll clear out the snow…”

She held up her wand.

“..with  _ magic! _ ”

“That’s a terrible idea,” Diana protested. “If you melt the snow, you’ll melt the ice underneath it.”

Amanda made a face, then chanted a spell and spun her wand around the base of her thumb. The wand began to spin by itself, faster and faster, kicking up a cloud of snow around her. When it settled, Amanda was holding a bright orange snow shovel.

Half an hour later, Akko and Diana were slumped into a snowbank that they had created. The clouds had parted, allowing the midday sun to shine onto the snow, partially melting it, making it super heavy. It also made the snow super bright, so Diana created sunglasses for them to wear.

“Hey, you two tired already?” Amanda called from the other end of the rink. She started shuffling towards them.

“Not tired. Just taking a break,” said Diana. Her expression was hard to read through her sunglasses, but her face was flushed, either from cold on exhaustion.

Amanda slid into the snowbank alongside them.

“You guys look so cute, laying there with your matching shades. Heh. Anyways, whaddaya think? Is this good?” she gestured to the two meter wide, fifty meter long strip of ice they cleared in the middle of the lake.

“Perhaps for a race? Other than that, it just looks like a monumental waste of time and energy,” said Diana.

“Ha! That’s so pessimistic!” Amanda laughed. “And hilarious! We’re not even done yet!”

Amanda plopped down in between them, which might have been quite uncomfortable under normal circumstances, but now their joined hands simply sunk further into the snow. For a short minute, the trio enjoyed the peace of perfectly still winter’s afternoon.

“It’s been awhile since you two’ve, like, gotten together, huh?” Amanda stated, breaking the silence.

“...I suppose it has,” Diana replied after a moment.

“To be honest, I can’t help but wonder some things about that,” said Amanda.

“I wonder some things as well,” Diana interjected once again.

“I wonder,” Amanda continued, “If I tickle Akko, will you feel it?”

“I don’t wonder that at all.”

She turned on her side to face Diana and looked her in the eyes, face expressionless. Then she rolled over to look at Akko.

“Ya know, Akko, you don’t talk as much as you used to. I think Diana is a bad influence.”

“Oh believe me, she still talks plenty. She just tires herself out before we can meet up with you people,” said Diana.

“Are you calling me annoying!?” Akko huffed.

“Oh, please. If I were to call you annoying, I would do it indirectly and behind your back.”

Diana was quite used to answering questions of this nature. But Amanda was right, Akko  _ had  _ been a bit quieter that day. Whenever that happened it was because something heavy was weighing on her mind. It had started that morning, when Diana responded to Akko’s chipper “Ohayo!” with “Y-yeah” and an inability to make eye contact. That in itself wasn’t what was worrying her. Diana was probably just tired getting tired of being stuck together for so long. She was a very patient woman, but even Akko was admittedly getting anxious for Croix to finish her research as well. After all, even the closest friends can get on each other’s nerves sometimes.

Friends.

Yes, they slept together. Yes, they held hands, and  _ cuddled, _ (though Diana would would die of embarrassment if she found out you knew!). But at the end of the day, they were officially, emphatically, undoubtedly, Just Friends. 

_ Itai. _

What do you do once you’ve given up on ever telling a special person your true feelings for them? How do you make those feeling go away? Akko didn’t have much experience on the topic; whenever she tried to do “boy talk” with her friend from middle school, they would just say “I don’t get crushes”, then change the subject.

And so the storm inside raged on, just as it had started outside as well. The girls ran back to the shore to find their brooms, and hopefully make it home with all of their digits intact.

“Tia freyre!"

Akko wrapped her arms around Diana and then stuck them in her pockets, and buried her face in her nest of blonde hair.

“ _ Despite everything, this still feels really nice, _ ” Akko thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Diana was wondering what they would have for lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (end notes aren;t important you can skip them)  
> *Hmm. Maybe it was boring, but I want just one more nice and happy chapter, because next chapter (whenever that is, lol) shit is going to hit the fan. Spoilers!  
> *Don't fear for Diana's belly, they stopped for macaroni.  
> *And as always, I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
